


Book-hunting

by MeridianGrimm



Series: Jon and Gerry's Paranormal Book-hunting Club [1]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Case Fic, Developing Friendships, Gen, I will make you care about this partnership, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-03-08 21:11:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18902728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeridianGrimm/pseuds/MeridianGrimm
Summary: Despite their poor first impressions and many differences, Jon and Gerry agree that teaming up to destroy Leitners in their spare time is a worthwhile goal.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place in late May of 2013. Canonically, Gerry joins up with Gertrude sometime during 2013 (MAG 111), and for this fic he has been working with her for four months.

“Did you say that you’re going to Artefact Storage?” Sasha asks.

Jon stands and starts to collect his files. “Yes, the Institute logged a piece of evidence back when they first started looking into this case.  I thought it would be worth the trip to bring it up here and make some notes for my investigation.”  Plus, at this point Jon has been with the Magnus Institute for eight months and still hasn’t seen Artefact Storage.  Most of the cases he’s been assigned so far have led to nothing.

Another one of his coworkers shivers.  “Good luck.  It’s seriously creepy down there.”

Sasha nods and grimaces in sympathy.  “I spent three months as a practical researcher and had to transfer out.  It’s, uh, not great, Jon.  Artefact Storage starts to get this – this oppressive energy if you stay down there too long and, well… just be careful.”

He bristles at the warning.  “While I’m sure most of our so-called artefacts are harmless, I’m not going to tempt fate by touching everything in my path.  I’m not a fool.”  He tucks his files under one arm and exits before either of them can reply.

Jon takes the stairs down towards Artefact Storage and spends a few moments getting his bearings in the climate-controlled space.  The sheer size of it is overwhelming, but the artefacts are all tagged and each aisle is helpfully labelled with a range of numbers.  He checks the artefact number in his files and then follows the signs towards his destination.  As he walks, he continues to take in everything filling the space.

The breadth of artefacts housed here is impressive.  There are clothes and weapons and artwork and furniture, old appliances and trinkets and even a bright red Calliaphone steam organ situated at the end of an aisle.  In another aisle there’s a chess board that some poor sod couldn’t quite get the bloodstains out of, and the black-and-white pieces are bagged with a label that reads “NOT TO BE USED WITH BOARD”.  Jon pauses at that one, curious.  The board doesn’t look like anything special, although there’s a faint design that he can’t quite make out.  He steps closer to see that each square is lightly marked in gray with a spiderweb design.  It’s hard to focus on too closely, which is strange.

“Don’t touch it,” Jon hears, startling him out of his thoughts.  He turns to see that a tall man about his age had somehow snuck up behind him.

“I wasn’t going to touch it.  I’m just here to see an artefact for my investigation.”  He waves the case file meaningfully.

“Uh-huh.”

Taking in the man’s dark leather coat, black jeans, and visible tattoos on his knuckles, Jon wonders if the Archives forgot to establish a dress code for their staff – assuming he works here, that is.

* * *

“It’s not safe down here,” Gerry continues as the researcher continues to just stare at him.  “Haven’t you ever asked why the practical researchers in this place never work alone?”  Apparently, three of them had gone missing over a two-year period and the other staff had been starting to get nervous.  In response, a rule had been passed about working in pairs – presumably because Elias didn’t want a revolt on his hands.  Or maybe he just didn’t like the hassle of hiring new researchers all the time.

The man scoffs.  “Nothing is going to jump out and devour me.  Most everything here has been down in storage a long time.”

Well, this idiot won’t last long without supervision.  Gerry checks his watch and decides that he can spare a few minutes to make sure Mr. Stuffy Academic here doesn’t get lost.  “Whatever.  You got a name?”

“Jon Sims,” he offers warily.  “You?”

“Gerard Keay.  I’m an archival assistant.”

“Uh, right.”  After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Jon consults his file and then checks one of the tags.  “The artefact I’m looking for should be just about here.” He looks further down the aisle and his eyes lock on an hourglass a few steps away.  “Well, it was a pleasure to meet you,” he lies, not bothering to hide the dismissal in his tone.  Gerry shifts his weight but doesn’t move.

Jon snaps on a pair of gloves (ah, so he isn’t _that_ ignorant) and grabs the hourglass, frowning when a light tug doesn’t move the artefact.  Gerry notices then that the long string with the tag is caught underneath the stack of books next to it.  Jon reaches toward them but then aborts the motion, trying instead to pull on the string directly to free it from the stack.

Huh.  Jon doesn’t care about touching the hourglass, but he won’t make contact with the books.  Gerry knows what that means.  “All of the dangerous books are locked up,” Gerry says.  Jon’s hand falters.  “Those ones there are from some sloppy researchers who didn’t clean up after themselves.”

“How can a book be dangerous?” he asks with feigned disinterest.

“Playing dumb is boring for both of us and you’re not very good at it.”

Jon narrows his eyes suspiciously.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.  It’s a legitimate question.”

“Have you ever read anything from the library of Jurgen Leitner?”

The change on Jon’s face is instantaneous.  Surprise, fear, and anger flash across his expression before he shuts it down into something neutral.  “Just once.”  There’s a finality to his tone that doesn’t invite further questions.

Gerry shrugs.  “If you’ve escaped a Leitner without knowing what it was, then you’re either clever or lucky.  Hopefully that continues for you here.”

Jon relaxes when Gerry doesn’t push.  “Well, you seem to have more knowledge about dangerous books than I do.  What does that make you?”

“Well-informed.”  He doesn’t feel like sharing his mother’s work with a stranger.

“I see.”  Apparently encouraged by Gerry’s reassurances, Jon lifts the stack of books to free the tag and then steps away from the shelf with his prize.  “An entire library, you said?”  He walks away with a calculating expression and Gerry wonders if he’s just doomed the man by unwittingly returning Jon’s attention to Leitner’s hellish library.

Although, if Jon was curious enough to sign on with the Magnus Institute after escaping a Leitner, maybe he never had a chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About my characterization of Jon here: s1 Jon is a skeptical asshole, and I say that with love. However, because the “skeptical” bit is only a façade (MAG 39), I want to play with how he presents himself a little. The Jon in this fic is deeply shocked when a complete stranger correctly guesses that Jon had owned a Leitner, and he subsequently abandons the pretense with Gerry (although not with others). He still doesn’t believe in everything the Magnus Institute investigates, though.
> 
> The original idea for this fic comes from [this post I made](https://meridiangrimm.tumblr.com/post/184941578383/meridiangrimm-meridiangrimm-it-is-canonical).
> 
> Comments are much appreciated!! I’d love to hear what you think about this chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you all ready for my backstory for Gerry based on the canon timeline? See the end notes for canon details.

A few days later, Jon seeks out the Archives during his lunch break and he instantly dislikes the place.  The whole department starts to give him second-hand stress from the moment he walks in.  There are thousands of files piled high on every available surface, and although there are plenty of acid-free boxes around, most of them are unlabeled and haphazardly filled with crushed files.  Finding anything in this place must be damn near impossible.  Thank god the Institute’s libraries aren’t like this.

He spots Gerard across the room and approaches the man’s desk.  The question that’s been on his tongue for days slips out before he can make a socially acceptable greeting: “Why haven’t you destroyed them?”

Gerard, to his credit, doesn’t need any more context.  “I’ve burned a few, mostly before I started at the Magnus Institute, but that’s – not really an option here.”  His eyes cut to a closed door with “Gertrude Robinson, Head Archivist” written on the name plate.  “The Archivist studies some of them for her work and the, ah, head of the Institute keeps an eye on the ones in storage.”

Jon feels a chill run up his spine.  “What’s her work?”

“You’re better off not knowing.”

Good god, hypocritical or not, some days Jon hates other academics.  Everyone seems to think they know more than their colleagues and couldn’t possibly explain things in a succinct manner to people outside their department.  “This is an organization that researches reports of paranormal phenomena.  You can’t tell me to mind my own business when there’s a _library of horrors_ that your boss wants to keep around.”

Gerard shakes his head.  “Leitner’s library was destroyed in 1994 and most of his books were scattered.  Nobody knows where they all are or how many he had.”

That brings up more questions than it answers, but Jon isn’t going to let himself be distracted.  “Why won’t you tell me what Ms. Robinson is working on?”

“You won’t be any happier if I tell you.”

“I don’t need to be happy; I need to know.  Not knowing the truth is worse than knowing it, it always is.  That’s why I’m here.”

* * *

Gerry is not oblivious to the parallels between Jon’s words and Elias’ sermons about the Ceaseless Watcher.  The Magnus Institute’s researchers outside of the Archives aren’t tied to Beholding and can quit at any time, but if Jon gets too deep into research on Leitner and draws Elias’ interest, he might find himself transferred to the Archives.  Right now, Jon can still walk away.

Unlike Gerry.

The price of Gerry’s freedom from his mother had been becoming an archival assistant, and he had known what taking the job would mean.  The community of people who know about the Entities is relatively small, and people gossip – even non-human people who are often at odds with each other.  Gertrude’s revolving door of assistants over her many years as Archivist had not gone unnoticed.  It was still an easy decision, though, because Beholding had laid its claim on Gerry years ago.  Joining the Eye’s temple in exchange for his mother’s death had just made his unfortunate affiliation more official.

It had started with a Leitner, of course.  His mother had recovered one in 2008 titled _Sciente Oculo_ , which translated from Latin as “eye of knowledge”.  It had belonged to Beholding, obviously.  As soon as she’d brought it into the shop, Gerry had felt prickles on the back of his neck like he was being watched.  He remembers that she’d opened the book to show him an illustration, and a corner of the cover had brushed his skin where he’d been leaning on the counter.  Then, his memories blur until Pinhole Books had closed for the night and _Sciente Oculo_ had been placed on one of his mother’s special shelves, far away from any volumes it might have reacted badly with.  Gerry thinks he’d said something to his mother, asked her to put it with the Leitner in her safe, but she hadn’t.  He doesn’t remember taking the book from its shelf, but every moment between cracking _Sciente Oculo_ ’s cover and finishing it late the next morning is crystal clear.

Reading the book had given him the power to, with enough concentration, recognize people marked by or associated with the Fears.  His mother had been delighted that the Eye had touched him, clearly hoping that his new talent would help her track down more Leitners.  Gerry had not shared her glee.

His ability to See avatars and victims had been difficult to use, so he’d mostly ignored it for a few years until the day an old, old man in a sharp suit had entered Pinhole Books.  The man had picked up a few paperbacks from the clearance section and had stared at Gerry with an odd smile the whole time Gerry was ringing him out.  “Is there anything else I can help you with?” Gerry had asked once it was clear that the man wasn’t moving away from the counter.

His smile had widened until it was almost eerie.  “No, but I think I may be able to help you, young man.”  From an inside pocket the man drew out a brass pendant with a stylized eye and held it out to him.  “Easier to see with more eyes,” he said cryptically, and then left before Gerry could See what kind of creature the man was.

Gerry had quickly discovered that wearing the pendant – or anything with an eye on it, for that matter – reduced the amount of effort it took to use his unusual talents.  He’d decided that, if he was going to be dragged into the service of an Entity (and he was; there was nothing he could do about it now), then he might as well get something out of it.  The decision wasn’t about power, like his mother had wanted.  It was about being able to protect himself from disciples of the other Entities.  As a result, Gerry had gone all-in with Beholding symbolism, covering himself in tattoos of eyes and branding his possessions with the design and focusing some of his larger illustrations on the Ceaseless Watcher.  He wasn’t going to be caught unawares by people or creatures who wanted to harm him.

From the outside, Gerry had looked the part of a devoted follower of Beholding.  The reality, though, was that Gerry didn’t love or worship the Eye, not like some of the other people he’d met in service to various Entities.  He’d just as soon leave the whole paranormal business behind if he could have.  Without that option, he was just trying to survive with the cards he’d been dealt.

So yeah, signing onto the archival team at the Magnus Institute had really been just a formality in terms of the Eye having its hooks in him.  Gerry is good at the research and his knack for recognizing the paranormal comes in handy while working with Gertrude.  He had quickly learned better than to turn his Sight on her, though.  The Eye’s sign is clear and sharp upon her, but Gertrude had been marked as an enemy and victim by so many of the other Fears that it hurts to look too closely.

“Are you going to answer me?” Jon demands frostily, breaking Gerry out of his introspection.  He’d almost forgotten Jon was there.  “I’m going to find out what’s going on here with Jurgen Leitner’s books whether you help me or not.  Are you going to tell me, or will I have to conduct an investigation myself?”

Seeking out knowledge regardless of the cost is a hallmark of Beholding.  Gerry can almost picture Elias’ shark-like smile at the prospect of another candidate for his god.  Gerry doesn’t want to draw Jon further into the deep end, because the man doesn’t deserve that.  No one deserves that.  However, Jon sounds like he’s ready to jump into the water all on his own, to continue the metaphor, and hell, maybe if Gerry teaches him to swim, Jon might survive this.  He can’t deny the empathy he feels with someone else who’s survived a Leitner.

Gerry sighs and meets Jon’s gaze.  “Look, here’s how this is going to go: I’m going to give you some warnings, because I’m not heartless, but you’re a grown man and it’s your life to ruin, if that’s what you want to do.  You’re going to listen to me and think about what I said tonight.  Tomorrow, if you still want answers, you can come find me.”

Jon smiles triumphantly.  “I can live with that.”

Sure, until some Entity kills him, that is.  “The further you look into Jurgen Leitner and his library, the harder it will be to go back to a normal life.  If you keep digging into the terrors he collected and the people he associated with, you’re going to draw… unwanted attention.”

“I know that his books are dangerous,” Jon says slowly, his smile fading to confusion.  “But they’re still just _books_.  If I don’t touch them or read them, then how can they lure me in?”

Gerry bites back the urge to tell his horror stories.  They’d be here all day if he got started.  “Physical contact and reading from the books aren’t the only ways they get you, though they’re definitely the most common.  People can be more susceptible to some Leitners over others.  Also –” and here Gerry pauses, not sure whether he should explain the Entities “– have you thought about where the books come from?  Before Leitner’s library, that is?”  Because no one Gerry has met actually knows whether Leitner added the monstrous qualities himself or was just _very_ good at finding paranormal books.  Or some combination of both, which is Gerry’s theory.  If Leitner didn’t create them all, that opens up a whole world of nasty possibilities about who or what did.

Jon looks at him like this is a trick question.  “No?”

“Whatever you saw in your book, or whatever happened after, I’m assuming it was bad.”  He waits until Jon nods.  “There are plenty of bad things out there – as I’m sure you’ve read while working here – and I don’t think you want them to come looking for you if you stick your nose where it’s not wanted.”

His eyes go wide. “I – oh.”

“The things that Leitner’s books can do to you can be worse than death, and some of his books are, uh, much more sentient than I prefer my literature to be.”

Jon swallows nervously, and yeah, it looks like he’s starting to get it now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon notes: Gerry doesn’t join up with Gertrude until 2013, but he’s definitely got some spooky Beholding connections in earlier statements. In 2010 he knows that Andrea Nunis is marked as a victim for an Entity (MAG 48). In 2011 he has the Eye tattoos, his Eye lighter, and a brass Eye pendant (MAG 12). Sometime before winter 2012 he does a huge painting of an eye (MAG 4). Boy was already marked for Beholding. Mary Keay confirms that monster books existed before Leitner started collecting (MAG 62), but whether she would have shared this with Gerry (and whether he would have been paying attention) is unclear.
> 
> I see your “Elias Bouchard is Jonah Magnus” theories and I raise you “Elias is Jonah’s long-term sub while Jonah works in secret on a different mission for Beholding”. No one will be watching out for your machinations if they think you’re dead, as Jurgen Leitner proved. The old man that Gerry encounters in Pinhole Books during this chapter is Jonah Magnus. (I love “Elias is Jonah” theories, though, that would be so on-brand for TMA.) EDIT 03-2020: lmao, I forgot to update this bit after Jonah!Elias was confirmed. You're welcome to pretend the old man was some other agent of Beholding.
> 
> The Latin translation of the Leitner is from google translate.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who left kudos and/or a comment on the previous chapter!! I love hearing what you thought and what questions you have. What did you guys think about my character study of Gerry in this chapter?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: the statement in this chapter is made by a character who is technically canon, though he is unnamed in the podcast (details in the chapter end notes).
> 
> Who’s ready for Jon and Gerry’s first case? :)
> 
>  **Chapter warnings:** mentions of stalking in someone’s statement and mentions of violence and suicide. I’d say it’s no worse than things that have been described in canon. Please keep yourself safe.

The next morning, Jon keeps an eye on the wall clock, waiting for his lunch break so he can track down Gerard in the Archives.  He’d thought about Gerard’s warnings, but Jon still believes that knowing the truth must be better than the alternative.  After two decades without answers, Jon feels like it’s about time someone explained to him just what the hell happened during his brief ownership of _A Guest for Mr. Spider_.

To his surprise, though, at about half ten Jon hears someone clear their throat in front of his desk and he looks up to see Gerard with a ratty backpack slung over his shoulder.

“I’m out of the office this afternoon for a research trip with Gertrude.  Don’t start,” he says, holding up a finger before Jon can protest.  “I haven’t forgotten.  I came to offer – well, an alternative plan.  If you want to get into the nitty-gritty details of Leitners, I’m going to be tracking one of them down this weekend.  Not for my boss.”  Ah, so this one won’t be going into storage, then.  “I thought you might want to come along and help, because I have a feeling that you’re going to go looking for them anyway.”

He’s not wrong.  It will be dangerous, but Jon needs to understand them.  Plus, he expects that there may be some cathartic satisfaction from obliterating a book that targets people maliciously.  “We’re going to destroy it?” Jon asks, just to confirm.

Gerard laughs.  “Yeah, we’re certainly going to try.  With any luck, it’ll be weak to fire.”

Jon wonders with a shiver what kind of book isn’t weak to fire, but he agrees to Gerard’s plan in a heartbeat.

* * *

When Saturday comes around, Jon descends into the Archives and pulls up a chair to Gerard’s desk.  The promise of extracurricular research had fueled him all week and it’s the first time in a long while that he’s been looking forward to the weekend.

“Gertrude isn’t in today,” Gerard explains as he opens the relevant file.  “Normally she doesn’t take days off, but she said she was meeting up with an old friend to discuss her, uh, current project.”

Jon frowns.  “You previously said that the head of the Institute, Mr. Bouchard, keeps tabs on the books in Artefact Storage.  Is your Ms. Robinson… likely to report us to him if she finds out what we’re doing?  Are they going to have a problem with the two of us using Institute files for this?”

“Oh, she’s not going to report us to Elias.  They – well, they don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things.”  Gerard’s amused grin suggests there’s a story there.  “And Institute staff can access files for their own research, so don’t worry about it.”  He hands Jon the statement for case #9712205.  “Read this first.  We’re looking for the book that Rafal Lensik describes.  He survived long enough to make a statement, but from my preliminary research, it seems like something eventually caught up with him.”  Jon takes the statement and starts to read.

> _Statement of Rafal Lensik, regarding a book he purchased two months previously.  Original statement given 22 May 1971._
> 
> _I’ll keep this short, alright?  About two months ago, on one of my days between contracts – I’m a local architect, so if we finish working with a client early, I might have a day off here or there_ _– I stopped into a secondhand bookstore.  Wasn’t looking for anything in particular, just browsing the selection, you know?  I picked through the mathematics books, like I usually do, and found an old volume on Euclidean space with a strange, almost mesmerizing design on the cover.  It seemed like there was no title on either the cover or the inside pages, and the author’s name had been blurred by what looked to me like an old water stain.  I bought the book, along with a few others, and I read the whole thing in my study that night after supper.  The contents were fascinating, but also not right in some subtle, indefinable way.  The problem, though, was that the author’s work on fractals quickly started to consume my life.  The next day at work I was unable to think about anything but the spiraling illustrations that had accompanied the book’s text.  I took a half-day because I felt like nothing was more important than filling sketchbooks with as many fractals as I could fit and measuring every detail of them.  After two days in this state, I managed to drag myself back to work, but my obsession hadn’t wavered in the slightest and my drafting suffered for it.  I could hold short conversations and convince people that I was fine, but if I went too long without returning to my new calling, my ability to concentrate wavered._
> 
> _The reason I’ve approached you folks here about the book, though, is that after several weeks of frenzied study, I started to feel like I was being followed – and I was right.  On several occasions, I’ve spotted a lanky young woman with red hair down to her waist trailing behind me a short distance.  Stalking me.  She’s never gotten close enough for me to be sure, and I’m sure as hell too scared to approach her myself, but I just – it looks like there’s something wrong with her hands.  They’re much too long, I think, and the ends of her fingers always seem to be sharpened like blades.  What’s worse is that, whenever I catch her reflection in a window, her whole body appears to be warped and twisted, like someone’s nightmare of a funhouse mirror.  I’ve become increasingly worried that one day she’ll grow tired of waiting for me to finish my work on fractals and decide that my time is up.  She’s waiting for me outside the Magnus Institute right now, somewhere.  I don’t think I can escape her._

“What happened to him?” Jon asks after he’s finished.

Gerard looks up from his laptop.  “His death was ruled a suicide due to untreated schizophrenia, although the instrument he used was never found.”

“And I’m sure it was something sharp.”  Gerard nods.  “Of course.  What happened to the book?”

Gerard gives him a look.  “That’s what we’re researching.  Help me track down his family.”  His unspoken “duh” rubs Jon the wrong way, but it’s not worth making a fuss over and he gets to work.  After a few phone calls and some searching, he finds Rafal’s younger brother, who died in 1985 but was survived by three children.

“Good,” Gerard says after Jon shares the information.  “I’ll check up on the oldest two, you take the last one.”

Jon learns that Lorenz Lensik currently lives with his long-time partner Wilfred Mayer and that they’d adopted Aniela, the daughter of a distant relative.  Gerard’s research, which he shares with Jon, reveals that Cecylia Lensik had emigrated to America and has had no contact with her family in the UK.  Henryk Lensik, more interestingly, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia like his uncle and had committed suicide in his home.  He left behind an ex-wife and one son, Ivo.

After they’ve pooled their work, Gerard says, “Given what we’re dealing with, Henryk is the most likely suspect for the next owner.”

Jon had come to the same conclusion.  “Agreed.  And after his death, the book might’ve been passed onto his son.”

* * *

The phone number for Ivo Lensik’s contracting business is easy enough for Gerry to locate with a quick google search.  “Mr. Lensik,” Gerry says as soon as the man greets them, putting the phone on speaker.  “My colleague and I are from the Magnus Institute and we just had a question for you.”

“ _Right, of course.  Have you looked more into Hill Top Road, then?  I haven’t run into anything else unusual since that job._ ”

He and Jon exchange confused looks.  “Ah, no, we didn’t realize that you’d made a statement with us.”  That could be another good source to check, though.  Gerry gestures at Jon and mimes writing something down.  Jon nods and grabs a post-it, presumably to make a note to look for the statement.  “We’re, um, calling to track down a book that your great-uncle, Rafal Lensik, contacted our institution about back in 1971.  We think it may have been passed down to your father.”

“ _No kidding?  Well, my father’s books all went to my uncle Lorenz.  I can give you the phone number if you want to follow up with him._ ”

“Yes, thank you, he’s next on our list.”

Shockingly, it only takes them two hours to locate Ivo Lensik’s statement in the chaos of the Archives.  Although Gerry and Jon eventually decide that Ivo’s experience was unrelated, the insight into Henryk’s condition before his suicide was worth the search.  The statement confirms that Henryk had also developed an unhealthy fascination with fractals and had been pursued by a figure with unnatural hands, although it seems to be a different one than Rafal encountered.  The descriptions of the creatures’ misshapen bodies are consistent with what Gerry knows about the Twisting Deceit and it fits with the focus on fractals.

When they call the phone number that Ivo left with them, Aniela Lensik-Mayer answers the phone.  “ _Uncle Henryk owned a lot of books_ ,” she informs them after Jon explains the reason for their call.  “ _My parents donated a lot of them after we moved the boxes into our house because we just didn’t have the room_.”  Gerry winces.  Charity shops don’t keep the kind of records that he and Jon will need to track down a specific book.  “ _A good chunk of them are still here, though.  I don’t have a lot of time because of my work schedule, but for the past three weeks I’ve been slowly going through the boxes on the weekends.  After seventeen years, it’s about time someone got to them, you know?_ ”

“Can we see them?” Jon asks abruptly.

“ _Sure, we’re donating most of them anyway_ _._ _And my parents are on holiday_ _, so they won’t mind the unexpected guests.  I’ve got two hours right now if you two are available today.  Otherwise, I go on night shifts next week for the hospital and then I’m leaving town for a conference.  We could make an appointment when I get back?_ ”

Jon looks over at Gerry, who nods.  “This evening will be fine.”

* * *

The two of them reach the Lensik-Mayer’s house in just under an hour, but then get stalled on the sidewalk.  “If the book is here, then there are several potential threats,” Gerry says, pulling on his gloves.  “There’s the distorted creature, any victims that have been manipulated, and the book itself.”  Truthfully, he and Jon are _probably_ safe from the Leitner, since it sounds like this one needs to be read to have any effect, but Gerry doesn’t know that for sure.  With Leitners, “better safe than sorry” is a life-saving mantra.  “If I tell you to do something, I need you to do it.”

“I _am_ aware of the situation,” Jon returns testily.

He blinks in surprise at the change in tone.  “Jon, you have no idea what the situation is.”  He and Jon had left the Magnus Institute immediately after their call with Aniela, so Gerry hadn’t had time to sit him down and explain the Entities before trekking out here.  It isn’t something that he’s comfortable discussing on public transportation, either, so he hadn’t used the travel time to fill him in.

Jon scowls and digs his heels in.  “You’re the one who asked me to be here.”

“You were going to run in headfirst if I didn’t.”  Shit.  That had sounded reasonable in his head, but it came out harsh, which wasn’t his intention.  Gerry pinches the bridge of his nose.  “Okay, that was uncalled for.  We can talk about it later.  Right now, we need to be – professional.”  Aniela doesn’t know that they’re not exactly here on behalf of the Institute.

Jon visibly eyes him up and down.  “Could have fooled me.”

Gerry gets plenty of snide comments about his non-academic aesthetic, but he lets this one pass without a snappy reply.  “Please, Jon.  We’re on the same side.  Ridding the world of another Leitner is a good thing.”  Flipping off everything that Jurgen Leitner probably stood for is just icing on the cake, and knowing that it would’ve pissed off his mother doesn’t hurt, either.

There’s a long pause where Gerry wonders if Jon is going to turn around and leave.  “I’m not a moron,” Jon finally replies, but there’s no anger in his voice this time.  “I know this is your area, but I’m not so careless with my life that I would storm in recklessly.  I would appreciate it if you didn’t treat me like a child.”

“I understand.  I’ll try to – I’ll treat this like a partnership.”  Cooperating with someone as equals is a novelty to Gerry.  When he hadn’t been acting alone, he had worked under the direction of first his mother and now Gertrude.  Clearly, this is something he needs practice with.

“Good,” Jon replies, shoulders relaxing.  “Let’s go ahead, then.”

Gerry reaches for the handle of the Lensik-Mayer’s small front gate, but then hesitates.  Despite the time restrictions put in place by Aniela’s schedule, it feels wrong to not say anything about the Distortion before leading Jon directly into trouble.  If Jon’s ignorance gets him killed, it will be Gerry’s fault.  “In the spirit of partnership, there’s, uh, something else I need to tell you.  We don’t have the time to get into it fully here, but I can give you a ten-minute crash course on the types of horrors that are out there.”

* * *

Gerry watches Jon struggle to process what he’s just been told.  It might have been too early to reveal everything about Fears and avatars and other creatures, but Jon had just kept asking questions until Gerry checked his watch and realized that they couldn’t loiter on Aniela’s sidewalk any longer if they wanted enough time inside.  At some point, Gerry will have to cover everything about the Magnus Institute, Pinhole Books, and possibly his own connection to Beholding, but not now.  Gertrude’s current plans to stop various apocalypses also deserve more time than he can give at the moment.

He feels both better and worse about getting everything out in the open.  On the one hand, Gerry doesn’t enjoy the cryptic bullshit that most people connected to the Entities relish, so telling Jon is a relief.  On the other hand, knowing about the Entities might make the Eye want Jon even more.  It’s a bit late to put the genie back in the bottle, though.

Jon exhales heavily.  “Christ, that’s – that’s a lot to take in.”  He rubs his temples.  “We’re looking for something from, what did you call it, the Distortion?”

“That’s right.  For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for dropping all of this on you right now.”

“It’s – well, ‘fine’ isn’t the right word, because nothing about these supposed ‘Entities’ is _fine_ , but it’s better to have an idea about what’s waiting for us.”

Gerry nods, and with that resolved, he pushes open the front gate and approaches the door with Jon behind him.  He takes a moment to make sure that he hasn’t forgotten anything important – thick gloves, employee ID from the Institute, resealable bag for the book – and then knocks on the front door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon (and non-canon) notes: Rafal Lensik is the name I have given Ivo Lensik’s unnamed great-uncle, who was mentioned in MAG 08. MAG 19 suggested that Ivo Lensik’s name might be Polish, and google was unhelpful at confirming or disproving that suggestion, so I went with it. I attempted to find Polish names for the Lensik family, but if you are Polish, please let me know if the baby name websites lied to me.
> 
> Lmao, Jon “I’m not reckless” Sims is so unaware. At least he has Gerry to keep an eye on him.
> 
> Thank you again for the responses to the previous chapter! Your comments truly make my whole day. Also, because I don’t have a beta for this fic, any reassurances that the characterization turned out alright would be much appreciated :)


	4. Chapter 4

“Here are the books I haven’t looked through yet,” Aniela Lensik-Mayer says, gesturing to three tall stacks of boxes squeezed between an assortment of old housewares.  Jon’s not claustrophobic by any means, but the attic space feels impossibly cramped.  “Feel free to open any of them.”  She settles onto an old, ripped kitchen chair with her notebook and clicks a mechanical pencil.  “I hope you don’t mind if I continue with some notes for my book group while you look.”

“That’s fine,” Gerard tells her, though Jon wonders how they’re going to talk about the paranormal book if she’s there the whole time.

It’s quiet for a while as he and Gerard each pull down a box and start unpacking the books, careful not to let any touch their skin.  The only noises come from Aniela scratching away in her notebook and humming quietly under her breath.  Jon lets himself sink into the task.  Fieldwork isn’t really Jon’s area, but the mindless work of filing and researching like this brings its own kind of peace.  It’s certainly better than thinking about the _fourteen eldritch horrors_ that apparently feed on unlucky humans.

* * *

After his second box, Gerry sits back to tie his hair up and take stock of the situation.  Jon seems content to dig through the boxes quietly and Aniela continues to chip away at her notes.  There’s something here that’s bothering Gerry, though, and he can’t put his finger on it.  He slowly looks around the attic, checking the shadows again for a creature with blades for hands.  No, the three of them are still alone.  None of the other junk up here sticks out to him as unnatural.  There are no distortions or strange smells or doors where they shouldn’t be, just Jon poking around and Aniela scribbling notes –

But the scratching sounds are too long and irregular to be letters, he realizes.  Gerry looks over to see that Aniela is not writing, but drawing, and the page open in front of her is covered in spirals.  Damn, damn, _damn_ , she’d told them herself that she had been going through the books.  He’d noticed the Spiral’s mark on her when she’d opened the front door, but it had been dim.  After seeing her act normally, he’d chalked it up to living with a Spiral artefact in her attic for seventeen years.  Sloppy thinking.

“Ms. Lensik-Mayer,” he begins, careful to keep the alarm out of his voice, “could we take a look at the books you’ve already been through?  I think what we’re searching for might be in one of those boxes.”  Jon freezes, quicker on the uptake than Gerry had given him credit for, and he slowly turns to look at Aniela too.

“Check the boxes by the stairs,” she replies without glancing up from the paper.  “Most of them didn’t look like anything special, though.  I flipped through a few, but didn’t really check in detail.”

Jon and Gerry share a look and neither of them say anything to her.  Right now, Aniela is just doodling, and compared to Rafal’s intense account of his experiences and Ivo’s description of Henryk, it seems like Aniela might’ve only read a few pages of the book.  She’s been coherent so far and hasn’t said anything about fractals.  It doesn’t seem to Gerry like she’s been consumed by an obsession or paranoid about strange lurkers.

* * *

Gerard starts to repack the boxes they’d sorted through while Jon moves over to the new ones.  Jon pauses in front of the stack of boxes to be donated before kneeling in front of the single box labelled “to keep”.  If Aniela had flipped through the Leitner, as he suspects, then the thing inside it may not have let her get rid of it.

The Leitner is at the top of the box.  The worn, leather-bound book matches Rafal’s description, complete with fractals on the cover.  Jon’s stomach twists at the idea of touching it.  Are his gloves heavy enough?  Or will he lose control of his own body, like he had with _A Guest for Mr. Spider,_ and find himself blocks away from the house with no idea where he’s being led?  He hates the fear that this untitled volume inspires in him.  Jon is not a child any longer, and he’s not alone.  This shouldn’t make him so afraid.

With tremendous effort, he ignores the voice in the back of his head screaming at him to run.  Jon knows that he is not a brave man, but he decides that he will not let this Leitner beat him.  He reaches down, hands shaking, and picks up the book.  The cover remains closed and he feels no compulsion to open it.  He waits, but nothing unnatural happens, so Jon sucks in a breath of relief.

Across the room, Gerard has finished packing up the other boxes.  “Good eye, Jon,” he says before turning to Aniela.  “Ma’am, if you’re looking to hold on to this book, we could digitize it so it can be studied further.  We’ll, um, scan the pages and then you’d be able to pick it up at the Magnus Institute.  It wouldn’t take longer than –”

“Not that one,” Aniela interrupts.  She stops drawing suddenly and stands up.

Jon looks between the two of them and goes along with Gerard’s story.  “The Institute would just be borrowing it.”

“I’m going to need it for my work.  I’m not finished with it.”

“But –”

“You can’t have it.”  Without warning, she lunges towards Jon, who jerks back and holds the book over his head.  However, Aniela gets a hand on it and yanks it out of his grasp.  She makes a victorious sound in response and starts to speak in a language that Jon doesn’t recognize.  Her words buzz oddly in his ears.  However, Aniela trips over a small electric fan while stepping back from him and the book slips through her fingers as she falls.  Jon’s knee-jerk reaction to protect books wars with the bone-deep knowledge that _he should not read from this book,_ so he pauses long enough to let the volume fall.  It hits the ground face-down and several of the pages bend from impact with the floor.

That’s when things get confusing.

* * *

Gerry feels static in his head when Aniela speaks.  The world around him ripples like a pebble dropped into still water as the book hits the ground, and then he can’t see the book anymore.  Shit.  He has no idea if the Distortion’s creature is lurking around, but he doesn’t want to find out.  “Right, we need to get out of the book’s range and regroup.  Both of you, to the stairs.”

“What’s going on?” Aniela whispers, sounding scared now rather than angry.  “Why did I do that?”  Gerry doesn’t have a good answer for her.

He follows Jon and Aniela to the staircase.  When they get around the bend in the stairs, which should lead down to the next floor, Gerry sees instead more stairs and another, identical bend.  Not good.  Jon curses quietly, but doesn’t stop, so Gerry and Aniela continue too.  After this new bend, they turn the corner to find the exact same stairs again, still leading to a landing and another turn.  Then, after they round the corner again, Gerry’s heart lifts when he sees a door.  Unfortunately, once he and the others step out, he realizes that they’re in the attic again.

Christ, the stairs must be like one of those 2D optical illusions where each set of steps in a square appears to go down but never actually gets any lower.  It doesn’t work in real life, though, or at least it shouldn’t.  Gerry grits his teeth and hopes that the Spiral book doesn’t get any pleasure out of tricking them like this.  What a fucking menace.

“The window?” Jon asks.

“Don’t bother.  Just stop moving.  We can’t trust our senses, apparently.”  Gerry has no idea how much his Sight will help, but it’s the only thing he can think to try that might overcome the Twisting Deceit.

* * *

When it becomes clear that reality is slipping and he can’t see what’s truly there, Jon closes his eyes.  He can hear Aniela’s short, sharp breaths next to him as if she’s trying not to panic.  There are heavy footsteps ahead of him, presumably from Gerard.  However, Jon has no idea whether his other senses are lying to him too.

Time passes oddly as he stands there, motionless.  At one point, he thinks he hears Gerard murmuring “I am not for you, I am not for you” over and over and over.  It makes the hairs rise on the back of his neck.  Jon feels restless and helpless and furious, like he’s caught in the web of something that hasn’t come back for its prey yet, but is sure to return soon.

In front of him (if this is really happening), there’s a clattering sound.  Gerard grunts and swears.  “Sneaky little bastard,” Jon hears.  There’s another muttered “fuck”, an ominous thump from somewhere to his right, and then the familiar sound of a book being snapped shut.  “ _There_ we go.”  Jon opens his eyes and the world abruptly snaps back into focus.  In front of him, Gerard is unzipping a resealable bag, and after dumping the volume inside, he closes it with an authoritative _zip_.

“That should do it,” Gerard says, but then – “What happened to her?”

Beside Jon, Aniela is lying on the ground, unmoving.  One of the thumps from earlier must not have come from Gerard.  Jon bends down to take her pulse, which is thankfully still strong.  “She must have passed out.”

Gerard looks at the stairs, and then back at her.  “We should stay until she wakes up,” he states, though he sounds uncomfortable with the idea.  Jon doesn’t want to stick around either, but god knows what Aniela will think happened when she wakes up.  The last thing they need is for her to call the police and tell them that two strange men from the Magnus Institute had drugged her and then stolen a book from her home.

* * *

Aniela wakes up a few minutes later and Gerard checks her for a concussion.  Even though her head seems fine, Aniela quickly convinces herself that the whole thing had been either a dream or the result of her fall.  Gerard and Jon’s attempts to correct her are met with resistance and they finally give up.

Jon shivers as Aniela walks them back to the door.  He wonders if she knows just how close she had come to a violent death at the hands of the same book that had tormented her relatives.  Jon had known exactly what fate he’d dodged as a child.  The image of Mr. Spider’s long, bony limbs wrapping around his childhood bully is still so vivid in his mind that even now it keeps him awake some nights.  Jon and Aniela had both been saved by chance.

In the hallway, he leans towards Gerard and murmurs, “Are the Distortions from the statements going to come back for her?”

Gerard squints at the back of her head.  “I – I’m not sure.  The book has been up in the attic for a long time, but she didn’t read the whole thing.  Probably flipped through it, like she said.  We may have gotten here in time.”  On the porch, Gerard hesitates before turning back to Aniela.  “If something seems strange, or – or seems like it might become strange, give us a call at the Magnus Institute.  Ask for someone in the Archives.”

Aniela manages a small smile.  “I will.”  He thanks her for her time, and then they leave.

Gerard passes the tube station without a second glance and Jon decides that he could use a walk too.  They can hop on later when they’re both a little less on edge.  “I might call back in a few days to follow up with her,” Gerard volunteers, breaking the silence.  “She was marked as a victim, but only a little bit.  If she had been doomed for sure, the mark would have been heavier and clearer.”

“You can… see that sort of thing?”  On any other day, it would have been too much to believe, but Jon’s not really in a position to be skeptical after what they’ve seen and done today.

“I can,” he answers curtly, his shoulders tensing.  “Don’t ask how just yet.”

Jon sticks his hands in his pockets and says, striving to sound casual, “Is anyone who’s ever owned a Leitner still in danger?  Am I marked for – for anything nasty?”

Gerard looks over and concentrates on his forehead for a moment.  “More than Ms. Lensik-Mayer, but it’s still, ah, manageable.”

Jon’s heart drops into his stomach.  “Tell me.”

“There are two marks, sort of.  The first…” Gerard avoids his gaze.  “Did your Leitner have a spider inside it?”

Jon stops walking.  “How did you know that?”

Gerard glances at his forehead again.  “I can see the Web on you, but it’s faint.  Been there a long time, I think.”

Right, spiders have their own Entity.  Jon shouldn’t be surprised.  He has the urge to scrub at his forehead until whatever paranormal symbol is up there washes away.  “What does the other mark on me belong to?”

“Beholding.  It makes sense, unfortunately.  The Magnus Institute is a place of power for the Eye.  That’s another discussion we should have.”

“I see.”  Jon sighs, feeling the weight of knowledge settle on his shoulders.  It’s not easy to deal with, but it’s better than ignorance had been.  “So, what now?”

“Now we figure out how to destroy this book.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find an example of the optical illusion Gerry talks about [ here ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Impossible_staircase.svg/2000px-Impossible_staircase.svg.png)
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has responded so far. Like the Eye feeds on statements, I feed on comments.


	5. Chapter 5

Jon rubs his eyes as the flames in the wastebasket dwindle again.  “Why won’t the damned thing catch on fire?  It’s a _book._ ”

“Goddamn Spiral,” Gerry curses.  Of course it would make no sense.  He had hoped that fire would be effective on this one, but apparently that’s not the case.  Normally, when the usual methods don’t work, Gerry just tosses the book into a safety deposit box (or, lately, in Artefact Storage with the other locked-up books) and leaves it until he comes up with another idea about how to destroy it.  However, Jon is adamant that they put an end to this one.

They’ve noticed several other strange ( _annoying_ ) things about the Spiral book, too.  It has a habit of moving around the Archives when their backs are turned, and the pages won’t tear when they try to disassemble the volume piece by piece.  The handsaw from Gerry’s heavy-duty toolkit twists into a horrific, crumpled mess when they try to cut the thing, and Gerry is tempted to just toss the book into a volcano, Tolkien-style, and be done with it.

“Alright,” Jon finally says after hours of testing, frustration leaking into his voice.  “We’re two reasonably intelligent people.  We can figure this out.  If the ‘Twisting Deceit’ doesn’t like behaving like a regular, corporeal object, then we think outside the box.  What’s the opposite of fire?”

“Water, although we tried that.”

“Ugh.  It should have caused some damage, but didn’t, because apparently the book _hates us_.”

“Fire… extinguisher?”

Jon stares at him and then the book.  “I suppose it’s worth a shot.”

The fire extinguisher doesn’t work either.

* * *

Across from Gerry, Jon grumbles.  “It’s almost 4am.  I want this book gone and I’m exhausted.”  Gerry nods in agreement.  The two of them lapse into tired silence, which drags for a few minutes.  Suddenly, Jon sits up straight and announces: “I have an idea, but I don’t like it.”

“I’m open to any suggestions at this point.”

He stands up.  “Keep an eye on the book and don’t let it wander off.  I need to get something from Artefact Storage.”  Gerry watches the book, trying not to doze off, and Jon comes back about thirty minutes later with a wickedly sharp knife in his gloved hands.

“We’ve already tried blades –”

“But this one was in Artefact Storage.”  He turns the blade idly until it catches the light.  “I was thinking about what you said regarding the Entities.  In light of the fact that a variety of monsters really do exist, I reasoned that we must have at least a small handful of genuine artefacts in storage.  I checked the catalog and, based on this blade’s history, I believe it was used by the one you called the Slaughter.”

Gerry is instantly wide awake again.  “And you’re _touching it?_ ”

“I don’t _like_ this,” Jon says defensively, as if that’s the problem here, “but I don’t know what else to throw at it.  And I trust that you would find a non-fatal way to stop me if I start to look peaky.”  Personally, Gerry is shocked that Jon thinks Gerry could stop a Slaughter victim unarmed, but it’s a bit late to raise a complaint.  Jon presses the knife down on one of the book’s pages and, surprisingly, it slices through.  It’s clearly a difficult task, like cutting through a watermelon instead of a thin sheet of paper, but one by one the pages split and are separated from the binding.

“God,” Jon says when he’s finished.  “I need a cigarette.  Or a drink.”

Gerry gives a shaky laugh, but waits to move until Jon sets the knife down.  “Gertrude keeps a bottle of whisky in her office.  I’ll replace it on Monday.”  He sheds his gloves and rummages around in his desk, coming up with his bag of lock picks.  Gerry breaks into Gertrude’s office and returns with a bottle and two glasses.  Thankfully, Jon doesn’t look any more aggressive than he had before leaving for Artefact Storage, so Gerry tentatively hopes that there won’t be any negative repercussions from using the knife.  Jon had worn gloves, after all, and Gerry hadn’t heard any eerie music.

Gerry pours for them both.  “You know how I said that someone has to be either clever or lucky to beat a Leitner?”  He raises his glass.  “Well, here’s to being clever _and_ lucky, because god knows that we’ve been both today.”  At some point, they’ll have to talk about how far Jon can push his luck, but not tonight.

“Clever and lucky,” Jon agrees with a smile.  “I can drink to that.”

* * *

Monday comes much sooner than Gerry wants it to.  He grumbles under his breath and nurses his coffee while sorting through the statements that Gertrude had left in his inbox this morning.  He hears footsteps approach his desk and is about to beg off of whatever research trip Gertrude has planned for today, but when he looks up, it’s Jon standing there.

“Um.  Good morning,” Jon starts.

“Morning,” Gerry returns.  “You’re still looking, uh, nonviolent.  That’s good.”

There’s an awkward silence as Jon opens and closes his mouth, clearly formulating and then discarding several responses to that.  “I came down here to ask when we’re starting on the next one.”

“The next one?” Gerry repeats.

Jon stiffens.  “I – well, I suppose if you preferred working alone on the Leitners, that’s fine, it’s just that I thought…”

“Oh, that’s not what I – look, if you want to keep hunting them with me, I’d appreciate the help.  I didn’t want to assume.”  Truthfully, Gerry hadn’t even considered whether this would be more than a one-off excursion.  Having backup on a regular basis might be nice, though.

“Right, good.”  Jon relaxes.  “Glad we’re on the same page.  We should exchange contact information, then.”  They switch phones and each enter their details before switching back again.  “Well, I suppose I’ll see you soon, Gerard,” Jon says as he starts to step away.

“Gerry.”

He pauses.  “What?”

“You can call me Gerry.”  Gerard is what his mother had called him.  There’s still a lot of Gerry’s personal history that Jon doesn’t know, and Gerry’s not sure how to start untangling that information into a narrative that will make sense.  As soon as he finds the words, though, he’ll get around to telling Jon.

“Thank you, Gerry.  Until next time.”  Jon leaves Gerry to his thoughts, which turn to how this partnership is going to actually function.

Honestly, it’s going to be tough.  The two of them are playing with forces that they don’t understand.  When Gerry had woken up on Sunday afternoon, he had finally been alert enough to panic over the events of the previous night.  He couldn’t believe that Jon had been stupid enough to handle a weapon of the Slaughter _on purpose_.  It was reckless and dangerous.  The Eye would have done nothing to help them if Jon had gotten in over his head.  It would have watched him kill Gerry in a frenzy and then let him run loose among unsuspecting Londoners until he was captured or killed himself.  If he and Gerry do this, if they devote themselves to destroying as many monstrous books as they can get their hands on, then they have to accept that someday a Leitner is going to get one or both of them and plan accordingly.

Consequently, they’ll have to be careful.  The two of them need to make rules about what lengths they’re willing to go to for their quest and about which lines they won’t cross.  They need to be thorough in their research and take plenty of notes so that they don’t lean too heavily on luck during their field trips.  Their partnership needs to be a balance.  Gerry can reign in Jon’s stubborn streak and reckless tendencies, and Jon can bring a fresh perspective and see the details that Gerry might miss while looking at the big picture.  Jon can play the part of the respectable academic to get them in the door, and then Gerry can use his years of practice at Pinhole Books to persuade the books’ victims to part with the tomes.

Yes, Gerry thinks.  If they plan this right and don’t get too full of themselves, if they stay under the radar as much as possible, then maybe they can save a few people and ruin Jurgen Leitner’s legacy for good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tentative future plans for this series include 1) a sequel about Jon’s wildly dangerous quest to save Gerry’s life and 2) a sequel about two good friends having sex.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has responded to this story. I love reading your comments!!

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on my [tumblr](http://meridiangrimm.tumblr.com/) if you want to talk about The Magnus Archives.


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